Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

As we continue to explore the makers and sellers of BAQs, besides dressmakers and seamstresses, milliners were another group to explore. We already noted Mary Chase ran ads in the newspaper for selling "album squares." (Here is the link to read more.) Which made us wonder if there were other milliners that made and/or sold BAQs? Miss Ruth Sanks was a milliner located at 47 Baltimore Street in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore was originally known as Market Street and was a main drag for businesses in Baltimore. She also came to my attention because Mrs. Susan Brice's maiden name was also Sanks. So far, we haven't found a relationship between the two women. (Here is the link to read more about the Brice Workshop.) Ruth Sanks was listed as a milliner in several Baltimore Business directories during...

Studying all these Northern Chintz Style Quilts with signatures and presentation info got us thinking about how and when the craze started. We see the proliferation of signatures on the Baltimore album quilts and even in the deep South too. So, it wasn’t associated with just one area or region. The earliest known autograph album was created in 1466, but it would take until 1507 before the “album amicorum” or book of friends to really be established. In the mid 16th century it was fashionable and became common throughout Europe in the 17th century. In the United States, 1820s are usually the time cited of popularity. So, what inspired the writing on quilts? The commonly availability of commercial Indelible ink. Ink was used on textiles earlier, but it may well be that earlier quilts had signatures...

I recently attended a lecture given by Barbara Brackman at the MOKA Quilt study group on the links between Kentucky and Missouri quilts. Shortly after, I attended an exhibition curated by Leah Zieber and Arlene Stevens at the Pasadena Museum of History which featured a group of quilts made of fancy goods (silk, satin, and velvet.) It was wonderful to see the actual textiles, to see in person some of the lessons learned from Brackman’s and others’ research. Fancy Goods Quilts can be made in a typical pattern such as log cabin or in a disorganized collection of shapes known as a crazy quilt. Crazy quilts frequently have embroidered details, which some have commented, the quilter went crazy with all the embroidered designs. However, that may not have been the case. Instead, she may have simply...

Founded in 1984, the California Heritage Quilt Project was to engage in research and educational activities regarding California Quilts. Their initial project was to research quilts made and brought to California before 1945. More than four thousand quilts were documented during the hunt for these quilts, a treasure trove of legacy. Another project the organization tackled was the California Sesquicentennial Quilt. A logistical feat of harnessing 230 quilt artists to create a single masterpiece. Board Member Helen S. Powell agreed to be coordinator of the project. Instead of dividing up the project into individual quilt blocks to be assembled later, lead quilt artists Zena Thorpe and Ellen Heck decided to create a pictorial style quilt. One artist took charge of “Northern California”, the other artist took “Southern California” and they “joined” it around Santa Barbara. Quilts...

My sister informed me, “everyone knows what it is when you call it the Bible Block like from Baltimore Album Quilts.” (BTW, if you don’t have a sister or friend to discuss quilts and quilt history, find one. I’ve truly learned so much from our discussions and hopefully my sister has learned some from me too…more than if I only went on hunts that I instigated.) Yes, most people do know what it is when you call it a Bible block, but what if in fact it is an autograph book in the quilt, not a Bible block? A real clue that you might need to explore another answer is when the quilt has more than one “Bible block” contained in it. Or if the known quilt makers have used previous books to represent an autograph...